ISSUES AND OPTIONS REPORT FOR REVIEW OF THE CHOBE NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Chobe National park, located in the northern part of Botswana and within the Chobe District covering an area of about 10 590km2 is arguably one of the country’s premier conservation areas. The park was created with the aim of protecting wildlife from over hunting and to cater for the visitors. Uncontrolled hunting by settler communities from Northern and Southern Rhodesia threatened the viability of a large number of mammals and unique species such as the Chobe bushbuck and puku thereby leading to the establishment of the park.From humble beginnings of complete preservation and game viewing through to the period of assertive management and research and growing tourism numbers, the park has remained relatively a hands-off affair with little adaptive management being practiced. The park, which is divided into four main focal zones comprising of the Chobe Riverfront, the Savuti Marsh; the Linyanti swamps and the dry lands of Nogatshaa, has remained a national and international focal point. There is little infrastructure in the park in terms of development for tourism adventures. The park is managed through a series of camps dotted throughout the park which provide guidance to tourists, wildlife management as well as law enforcement in the park.In an effort to effectively manage wildlife resources in the park, government has, since 1988 developed a series of management plans which unfortunately have never been put to good use, thus leaving park development without a policy guiding document for management and development. It is against this background that the plan is being reviewed to bring it in line with current national and international best practices.The review of the plan is currently being carried out within the framework of the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992 and the subsiding regulations, the Game Reserves regulations of 2000. The management objectives are guided by the visions of the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism and that of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks as well as the national Vision 2016. Other legal and policy documents guide the development of the plan.The Chobe National Park is entirely on state land and is surrounded by other conservation areas life Forest Reserves, Wildlife Management areas and settlements thereby placing a lot of pressure on the operations of the park as well as increased human-wildlife conflicts. Forest Reserves are also secondarily used for tourism activities by the tourism operators that fail to get access to the Chobe National Park

Improving the effectiveness of Ugandan water user committees

This article outlines issues affecting the functionality of Ugandan water user committees responsible for managing communal water and sanitation (WASH) services. Research undertaken demonstrated that their effectiveness is compromised by poor understanding of their rights and responsibilities by stakeholders within and outside the committees. Following the research, a handbook was produced that explained the rights and responsibilities in a form that is accessible to all community members. Preliminary feedback from committees that have used the handbook suggests that it has the potential to improve the functionality of the water user committees, thereby helping to improve the local management of WASH services in Uganda

Chobe district bush fire risk management plan

During the 2008 fire season in Botswana large tracks of land were indiscriminately burnt. After this event the Botswana Government looked to outside assistance to help them prevent, mitigate, and suppress Bush Fires in Botswana. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW- RFS), from Australia was chosen from many submissions to assist Botswana by describing, and demonstrating all that Australia knew about suppressing wildfires. Australia and Botswana have similar climates and issues regarding bush fire. In addition, Australia depends on a volunteer culture and workforce which their Batswana counterparts were keen to employ

Botswana component : integrated development plan 2013-2017

The Botswana Government has been unparalleled in her commitment to biodiversity conservation. Large tracks of pristine landscapes have been gazetted as national parks, game reserves and wildlife management areas, allowing ecosystems and natural processes to function with little or no interventions from anthropogenic activity. The country has now joined efforts with the Governments of the Republics of Angola, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to establish and develop a major Transfrontier Conservation Area. This transboundary initiative, known as the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is destined to be a premier tourism destination that incorporates large portions of the Kavango and Zambezi River Basins

Chobe district bush fire operations management plan 2016-2017

Chobe district is located in the Northern tip of Botswana, with abundant flora and fauna. The district is covered by thick forest inhabited by a rich diversity of wild animal species, attracting tourists from all over the world thereby making a significant contribution to the country’s economic growth and development

Competitiveness, welfare and eco-efficiency. Perspectives for spatial structure and land use in Finland

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